An imposter Twitter account of Eli Lilly triggered backlash with people starting to call out the pharmaceutical giant for charging for insulin that’s supposed to be free. One of the many critics was Bernie Sanders.

The real Eli Lilly Twitter account apologized “to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account.”

In a reply, Sanders said that the company should apologize for increasing the price of insulin.

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“Let’s be clear. Eli Lilly should apologize for increasing the price of insulin by over 1,200% since 1996 to $275 while it costs less than $10 to manufacture. The inventors of insulin sold their patents in 1923 for $1 to save lives, not to make Eli Lilly’s CEO obscenely rich,” Sanders wrote.

Sanders’ tweet prompted new Twitter owner Elon Musk to clap back.

“Full answer to insulin price question is complex. Short answer is that original insulin, discovered in 1921 (not 1923), is inexpensive, costing as little as $25. New, higher efficacy analog variants of insulin are more expensive,” he said.

While Sanders did not respond, but around the same time, he tweeted from his other Twitter account about Insulin, showing its prices around the world compared to the United States.

The impostor Twitter account of Eli Lilly purchased a blue-check “verified” label before tweeting about insulin being free. 

Following the tweet, the stock price of the pharmaceutical company plummeted Friday. Insulin prices have been a frequent subject of debate in the United States with Democrats attempting to cap insulin doses at $35 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. However, the measure has been shot down by Republican lawmakers in the past.

Also Read | Twitter blue check subscription paused after imposter accounts flood platform, misuse ‘verified’ label

Meanwhile, Twitter’s recently launched premium service, which offers blue-check “verification” labels to users who pay $8 per month, was unavailable on Friday after several fake account requests were accepted by the social media site.

Anyone could obtain a blue tick as long as they have a phone, a credit card and they pay $8 per month.